The following ideas are only a few ways that you can
inspire and motivate your students to produce interesting outcomes.
1. TIME
Write about a period in time that you would like to live in and
why. Tell about your job, housing, the clothes you’d
be wearing, mode of transportation, and what fascinating
things you would be
involved in.
2. GIVE IT UP
Write about something that you are very dependent upon. Imagine that
you have to give it up. Analyze your life and all of the material
things that you have acquired or have access to (car, internet,
cell phones, vacuums, microwaves, etc.). How different would your
life be without them? Would you still be able to function?
3. OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD
Write non-stop for 10 minutes on whatever comes up in your thoughts.
Everyone has random thoughts that will go off in many different
directions if you let them. Where will yours take you?
4. MAKE A WISH
Imagine for a moment that your days are numbered. If you knew for
certain that you only had a month left to live, what would your
priorities be? Where would you want to go? Who would you want to
be with? What would you want to do?
5. INVENTION
Life is full of small inconveniences. Think of one that you encounter
often and how you would fix the situation. What gadget would you
create to make your life more convenient?
6. ZOOM
Freeze a moment in time and describe it in sensory vivid detail
(5 senses). First, have students write a paragraph about a memory
in their life, “The First Day in America.” Now, focus
in on a key moment- stepping off the plane. What did you hear,
see, smell, feel, and/or taste?- …as I stepped off the plane
the cold wind pinched my cheeks and a voice on the loud speaker
sounded like he was telling everyone I had arrived… Relive
that moment.
7. PAPER TREE
Students write a detailed description of a character, fiction
or non-fiction. Tell the character’s likes and dislikes, where
he lives, his habits, what he looks like, etc. Compile all the
characters in a packet to give to each student. Together, go over
the characters and write a story about how all the characters intertwine
and cross paths, use this as an example. Now let them write their
own story. Have the students read their stories in class. It’s
interesting to see how the stories are all so different.
8. LIST POEM
Have students put one emotion on a piece of paper. Pass the paper
around to the other students in the class and have them add a line
to it. Give the paper back to the original owner. Talk about prioritizing
lines, rhythm, and the human condition. Change the last line by not
using the emotion word. Examples to write about include joy, anger,
frustration, envy, etc.
9. FACT TO FICTION
Each student writes a plot or topic sentence on a piece of paper
about an event that really happened to him or her. Give that plot
to another student and have them write a believable story. Compare
the fiction story to the facts.
10. I WAS THERE WHEN…
Have student complete this sentence. Have them describe what was
going on in their lives when an historic event occurred and/or
something that impacted their society. This can involve current
events, historic sports moments, political and social topics, etc.
11. REWIND TIME
If the student could rewind one moment in their lives, what would
it be and how would you change it? An example would be when you
got in trouble and how you would change that moment.
12. BEHIND A PHOTO
Show your class a photo from a magazine and ask them to write a story
based on the photo. Example: A teenage girl putting makeup on in
from of the bathroom mirror. The student might write about the
girl getting ready for her senior prom based on the other things
in the photo.
13. WORD BOWL
Place random words in a hat. Students pick out words and construct
a story based on the words. Example: magnetic poetry game.
14. IN 2020
If you ran into someone from class in 2020, what would you tell them
about your new life? Examples: family, job, hobbies, etc.
15. FOLKLORE
Students write about how an animal got its particular feature.
Examples: How an elephant got his trunk, a giraffe got his
log neck, a leopard
got his spots, a rabbit got long ears, and a zebra got his stripes.
16. WALKING IN SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES
Retell a well-known story from someone else’s point of view.
Example: The Three Little Pigs: tell from the wolf’s perspective,
Cinderella: tell from the three ugly stepsisters’ view,
etc.
On-Line
Resources
discoverwriting.com
ofb.net/~lisa/exercise.html creativewritingprompts.com
darkwing.uoregon.edu creativity-portal.com
esl.about.com
writersweekly.com inspired2write.com
writingfix.coM |
